


it's you that i've been waiting to find

by Suicix



Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Developing Relationship, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Team Dynamics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-23
Updated: 2016-09-23
Packaged: 2018-08-16 22:11:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8119441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suicix/pseuds/Suicix
Summary: Heath’s used to it by now: getting beat up, losing, watching as his ratio of wins to losses gets worse and worse with every week that goes by. What he is having to get used to again, however, is having people there by his side to help patch him up afterwards.

Set circa late-ish 2012.





	

Heath’s used to it by now: getting beat up, losing, watching as his ratio of wins to losses gets worse and worse with every week that goes by. What he _is_ having to get used to again, however, is having people there by his side to help patch him up afterwards. He had Wade and Justin once, but Justin drifted away from him, and Wade had a tendency to get snappy towards the end of it, and back then it felt like there was a lot less losing in the first place. The past year has seen an increase in that, has seen Heath aimless and alone and often _scared_ , a fear he hides behind a few jokes and a loud laugh and ten more attempts to _try again next time_ , but it finally looks like things might be looking up.

And that’s all because of Drew and Jinder. Sure, Heath’s still losing, but he’s losing with them beside him, and they – they _care_. They really seem to actually care. They look to him for advice and encouragement and they give their best right back. It makes Heath want to work even harder (if that’s even possible), and he’s _trying_ , dammit. He really is.

He definitely tried tonight, but it was to no avail yet again. He supposes he should be grateful that they were even on RAW, but he sure as hell isn’t grateful for the pain that’s still pulsing through what feels like every part of his body. Some ice did some good for it earlier, but the ache hasn’t completely faded yet.

The three of them make their way out of the elevator and through the hotel corridor, Drew and Jinder each with one of Heath’s bags in hand alongside their own so he doesn’t have to carry anything after getting so badly hurt tonight. He did _try_ to tell them _no, it’s OK_ , but they both insisted. Or, Jinder insisted politely, while Drew straight up took one of the cases out of Heath’s hand and said “No. I’m doing this.”

It takes a couple of tries to get the key card to open the door, but once that’s done, Heath’s just so relieved to be inside, away from anybody else but these two. He drifts towards one of the beds, and when all the luggage has been set aside, Jinder and Drew follow him over, sitting either side of him on the edge of the mattress.

“Are you feeling OK?” Jinder asks, soft. “I mean that was…” He winces. “That was rough.”

It was. Heath nods, both in agreement and to answer the question. He’s OK. The beat down he took was a lot, but he’s OK. He tells himself that he is, anyway. He only kind of believes it.

Right now, Drew doesn’t seem to believe it at all.

“Hey, you don’t have to pretend with us,” he says, his hand on Heath’s shoulder gentler than – than he’s ever been, really. Gentler than when he slings an arm around Heath when the two of them are ringside, maybe even gentler than the way he ever so subtly lays a hand on top of one of Jinder’s over breakfast in yet another nondescript diner. A contrast to his usual fierceness, but at the same time, it’s no less fierce because it’s Drew, and that’s how he is in everything he does. “You know you don’t have to pretend with us.”

“All right, then,” says Heath, and honestly, even just that is a weight off his chest. “It still – it still hurts. Like, kinda everywhere?”

At the admission of that, Jinder’s face falls even more. Heath can’t see Drew’s expression, but he can imagine the frown, can feel Drew’s hand tightening on his arm.

He can’t be entirely sure what exactly this actually _is_ between them, not yet, but he knows it’s something special, something to keep close, something that will evolve into even more than just this. Heath hopes so, anyway. If they don’t get bored of him and of this before that happens. _God_ , he hopes they won’t get bored. It’s his lead they’re following, after all. He didn’t learn all that much about leadership from Wade, but he’s trying his goddamn best.

“We’ll get them back next time,” Jinder tells him, the words sounding so certain that Heath actually kind of believes they will.

“Damn right we will,” comes from behind Heath, and Drew ducks forward to press a kiss to his cheek. “D’you think a shower would help it?”

Heath shakes his head. They already showered at the arena after the show, and right now he just can’t be bothered.

“I’m good,” he says, and before either of them can say anything to protest that – “Without a shower now, I mean. If we could just like, go to bed? Or just get into bed, whatever. We don’t have to sleep yet.”

They both agree. It’s actually getting quite late – it took longer than usual to leave the arena tonight – and there’s travelling to be done tomorrow.

There are two double beds in the room but the three of them pile into one once they’re done getting undressed and finished up in the bathroom. Jinder’s insistent that Heath should go in the middle, so he does, warm and snug between them even as the weather gets even colder outside. He feels bad that he isn’t acting enough like – like himself tonight. That he isn’t cracking five jokes a minute or talking so fast that only the two of them can keep up or trying to get them both to sing some stupid song with him. He half wants to vocalise it, but knows that they’d just tell him it’s OK, that this is him, too, that he’s allowed to be quiet as well as loud, thoughtful as well as brazen, and that’s – that’s when it occurs to him.

That’s when it occurs to him that they want every part of him, not just who he is onscreen or in the ring. _Him_ , not just who he wants to be (who he has to be because he – now _they_ , now all three of them – can’t seem to catch a break). They want him after a loss like tonight’s one, after seeing him broken down into nothing in the middle of the ring. They want him in those moments where he just can’t seem to shut up even though he knows he should, when just about anyone else he can think of would raise their eyebrows or roll their eyes or shoot out some sharp, derisive comment about _obnoxiousness_.

And they want him like this, between them in a hotel bed, one of Drew’s hands slowly stroking through his hair as Jinder rambles on about something that happened last week. Heath listens, relaxing to Drew’s touch and occasionally mumbling out a remark, grinning whenever Drew adds his own sharp commentary, the kind of things that make Jinder raise his eyebrows in surprise before he carries on.

So, Heath might be used to losing, but it’s still easier to handle with them.


End file.
